Inscriptions on Stone

Transcript

1 . chapter nine. Inscriptions on Stone Charles Crowther Introduction The rescue excavations at Zeugma 1 carried out in summer 2000 across Trenches 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18, and 19 in Area B of the archaeological zone recovered a relatively small number of inscriptions on stone. 2 A summary discussion of the finds, with preliminary publications of the major texts, has appeared in the preliminary excavation report. 3 This final report aims to offer texts of all the stone inscriptions found in the OA trenches. 4 The history of epigraphical investigation at Zeugma, from Chabot s visit in 1897 onwards, 5 has been reviewed by Kennedy and Graf. 6 The evidence is dominated by the inscriptions recovered from the necropoleis of Zeugma. In his 1976 monograph J. Wagner catalogued 159 inscriptions from Zeugma and the surrounding area, of which 147 were funerary; 7 Kennedy and Graf added a further 18 fragmentary, for the most part funerary, texts from the 1993 rescue excavations. Continuing campaigns by a team from the Institut Français d Études Anatoliennes since 1996 have added further texts. 8 Finds of public documents have been scarce, fragmentary, and removed from original contexts. The pattern of epigraphical finds from the 2000 rescue excavations in this respect matched the results of previous investigations. The areas investigated in 2000 crossed residential and commercial sectors and skirted the public center of the city. Catalogue Commagene Period The most significant epigraphical finds during the rescue excavations were a series of texts inscribed on separate surfaces (IN1 2 [SS1], IN3) relating to the ruler cult of Antiochus I of Commagene. 9 The existence of a temenos of Antiochus at Zeugma had already been revealed by the discovery in 1972 and 1974 on the upper slopes of Belkis Tepe of fragments of a limestone relief stele depicting a dexiosis exchange between the king and Herakles, 10 but the inscribed material from Trenches 9 and 15 offers the first documentary evidence of its character. The discoveries at Zeugma have prompted the reexamination of alreadyknown inscriptions from Samosata, Sofraz Köy, and Çaputlu Ağaç Küllük 11 and, at the same time, elicited a timely publication of fragments of a sanctuary assemblage at Ancoz first recovered between 1977 and The implications of the new discoveries were examined by the writer and M. Facella in a paper published in The analysis developed there is resumed in the present report, but the main emphasis is on full presentation of the epigraphical evidence. 14 IN1 2 (SS1; Inscription Register 4, WS 510) Trench 15, context Figs. 1 4; rose, Figs. 1 4; pl. 145b c Stele of black basalt, h m, w m, th m, inscribed with 34 lines of text, followed by three partially erased lines; found on 21 August by OA trench supervisor D. Thomason at a depth of ca. 1 m in an area of infill retained by the east-to-west Roman terrace wall on the east side of Trench 15. Now in Gaziantep Museum. 15 Datable fineware finds from associated contexts indicate that the stele is likely to have been deposited early in the reign of the emperor Tiberius. 16 Commagene was annexed by Germanicus as a praetorian province in A.D Although the suppression of the kingdom would have provided an appropriate context for the removal of visible traces of Commagenian rule such as the temenos at Zeugma, the coincidence of archaeological and historical context may be deceptive. The isolation of the stele in the deposit in Trench 15 from other elements of its assemblage tells against such a hypothesis, and it seems possible, in any case, that Zeugma was detached from Commagene somewhat earlier, perhaps after Actium. 18 The stele carried on one face a relief sculpture of a type attested elsewhere within the kingdom of Commagene, depicting a dexiosis greeting between King Antiochus I and Apollo. The character of the relief sculpture and its comparanda are discussed in detail elsewhere in this volume in the chapter by by C. B. Rose. 19 The other side of the stele was inscribed with a text of at least 34 lines whose left margin began on the curved return of the stele and carried across the natural contours of its face and on to the right return in the manner of other Commagenian ruler-cult inscriptions. 20 Damage to the upper section of the stele has removed the apex of Apollo s radiance and Antiochus tiara from the relief sculpture, together with the opening lines of the texts on the inscribed face. When the stele was discovered, attention was initially directed to the relief sculpture and the well-preserved inscription on its opposite face (IN2). It became apparent only later that the stele had originally carried a different inscription (IN1), which was erased to make place for the text that is now evident. Traces of the original inscription are visible immediately below the last

2 inscriptions on stone. 193 line of the superimposed text, where three lines were only partially erased, and elsewhere on the left and right returns of the stele, where the reworking of the basalt necessary to provide a clean surface for the new inscription seems to have been less effective. The traces that survive, of up to 15 letters from the beginning of each line, fewer from the end of a smaller number of lines, and of the three almost complete lines at the base of the stele, offer a framework whose missing interior can be filled in from a group of closely parallel Commagenian texts found at Sofraz Köy (SO), an unidentified site near Adıyaman (AD), and at Çaputlu Ağaç Küllük (Cb). 21 Letters on both left and right edges of IN1 were removed by the cutting of the relief scene on the other face of the stele: from lines 10 to 31, one and a half letters are consistently lost on the left edge (fig. 2); the break of ε [ὐ μ]ε νεῖς across lines 30 1 suggests a similar deficit on the right edge. IN2, in contrast, was cut with a clear margin on its left edge and regular and sometimes extensive vacats on its right edge. 22 It follows that the relief sculpture postdates IN1 and is likely to be contemporary with IN2. 23 A similar discontinuity between inscription and relief on the relief stele found at Sofraz Köy (SO) had already been noticed by its editors, 24 and may also be observed on a fragmentary stele now in Adıyaman Museum (AD). 25 On the Sx and Sz stelai from Samosata and the fragments of stelai from Ancoz (ANf, h), by contrast, relief and inscription are cut in harmony with one another and there is no underlying text. 26 The new texts are presented here in chronological order: the underlying erased text on the basalt stele first (IN1), followed by the overwritten text (IN2), and a further fragment of five lines cut on a limestone block (IN3), which is likely to belong to the continuation of the same text. A small fragment of a limestone block found during the 1998 excavation season of the French mission adds a handful of letters from three lines that seem to belong to the conclusion of the document. 27 The interrelationship of these fragments and the composition of the text as a whole is discussed below. A latex squeeze of the inscribed surface made immediately after the discovery of the stele by K. Schneider was used by H.W. Elton for an initial transcription of IN2 and was also consulted by the writer in September This squeeze was unavailable during the 2002 study season and appears to have been lost. New paper squeezes made in September 2000 and 2002, together with detailed digital photographs, provide the foundation for the decipherment and reconstruction of the erased text offered below. 29 but the interlinear spacing is marginally tighter (0.008; 0.01 for IN2). In contrast to the opening lines, recording Antiochus titulature, of both IN2, which were indented on the left, and SO, which were indented on left and right, letter traces in lines 2 3 suggest that the initial surviving lines of IN1 were inscribed across the full width of the stele. 31 The length of individual lines decreases from ca. 50 to 57 letters at the beginning of the inscription to ca at the end, following the taper of the stele. Decipherment of the erased inscription has been an incremental process, as underlying letter traces have been identified and aligned with corresponding passages in the securely attested parallel texts. The text offered here follows but is somewhat fuller than that of the first edition and its subsequent revision; 32 the lines have been renumbered to take account of additional letter traces on the upper surface of the stele identified since the initial publication. 33 Minor differences in reading from the earlier editions are not noticed separately in the critical notes below. IN1 (Commagene BEe; SEG LIII, 1771) The underlying inscription on WS 510, if it duplicated the whole of the parallel Sofraz Köy text, would have consisted of ca. 42 lines, the first two or three of which would have been cut on the lost upper part of the stele. 30 The size of the lettering is comparable to that of IN2 (ca m), Figure 1. IN1 2 in situ.

4 The lost and fragmentary opening lines of the inscription can be expected to have announced Antiochus titulature and lineage and the god or gods to whom the sanctuary was dedicated (SO 1 7, Appendix, text 1). 1: no identifiable letter traces remain under the preserved letters in l. 1 of IN2. 2: letter traces at the beginning of this line, which aligns with the upper half of IN2 l. 2, seem to belong to the left angle of a triangular letter followed by an iota, an outline which may belong to another triangular letter, and a letter bounded by a left vertical and upper horizontal; after an interval of ca. 4 spaces, a further triangular letter shape overlaps the upper part of the theta and epsilon of Θεᾶς at the beginning of IN2 l. 2; an underlying vertical stroke is also visible between the phi and iota of Φιλαδέλφο[υ]. 3: a count back from the restoration of l. 4 suggests that a round letter shape overlapping the apex of the alpha of Ἐπιφανοῦς in IN2 l. 3 is likely to correspond to one of the omicrons of τὸν τόπον in SO l. 7. The first part inscriptions on stone. 195 Figure 3. IN1-2. Left side, after conservation (IN1, 15 31; IN2, 15 30). Figure 2. IN2, left side, after conservation (IN1, 1 16; IN2, 4 16). of the line should, on this basis, offer an identity for one or more of the deities to whom the τόπος was dedicated, but the surviving letter traces are insufficient to confirm, or exclude, any of the possible candidates: either Apollo Epekoos and Artemis Diktynna of SO (Appendix, text 1, ll. 6 7) or Zeus Oromasdes, Apollo Mithras Helios Hermes and Artagnes Herakles Ares of IN2 ll : letter traces under the middle and upper edge of letters in the second half of IN2 l. 4 match SO l. 8; a round letter below the left edge of tau at the beginning of IN2 l. 4 seems likely to be the omicron of εἰκόνας in SO ll : the beta of [εὐσε] βείας at the beginning of IN2 l. 5 is cut over an earlier kappa, the position of which seems to match συνκαθιδρυμένας in SO l. 9. 6: sporadic letter traces are visible across the width of the stele below IN2 l. 6, but their association with individual underlying letters is difficult. There may be an

5 crowther. 196 Figure 4. IN1-2. Left side, after conservation (IN1, 28 39; IN2, 27 34). upper edge of a round letter above the epsilon and nu of ἐνεχάραξεν; in the middle of the line letter traces from the sigma of ἱεραῖς to the omega of ἐγώ in IN2 should fall at the same point as λοιποῖς in SO 10; at the end of the line a curved trace seems to belong to an omega, perhaps corresponding to ἀφώρισα in SO l. 11; if this identification is correct a curved trace over the first omicron of μόνον in IN2 could belong to the omicron of ἱεροῖς. Both 6 and 7 are relatively long lines, of ca. 55 letters, but, like l. 17, which has a similar letter count, contain a disproportionate number (respectively 10 and 8) of iotas. 7: an intrusive iota in ἀν{ι}θρώποις in IN2 l. 7 should be a survival of the underlying text and seems most plausibly associated with the rho of προσόδων in SO ll. 11 2; traces two spaces later, above omega, may belong to the the upper edge and left vertical of a sigma. 8: a kappa is visible after upsilon and overlapping the left vertical of nu of δυνά μεως in IN2 l. 8; succeeding letter traces can be resolved as κα τ ά ; earlier in the line the outline of a triangular letter between τε and κρίσιν matches the alpha of [κ]α [ί]. 9: the apex of a triangular letter followed by a vertical is visible in the interlinear space between IN2 ll. 8 9 above tau of εὐτυχοῦς; preceding traces are compatible with two kappas above epsilon and upsilon; traces of the left angle of a triangular letter remain after the nu of ἔσχον at the end of the line. 10: the traces preserved in this line, which falls between IN2 ll. 9 10, above παρ ὅλον in IN2 10, belong to a third-person subjunctive verb and match the corresponding section of SO ll. 13 4, which offers ε [ὐω χ] ῶνται οἱ κατὰ μέρος. 11: the letter traces on the left edge of the stone, which fall across the interlinear space between IN2 ll and the upper part of l. 11, correspond to SO 14 5: οἱ ἐκ τῆς ἐ [μῆς β]ασιλείας); 36 at the end of the line alpha is visible immediately after τήν in IN2. 12: no securely identifiable letter traces remain below IN2 l : the letter traces at the beginning of the line, before and underlying the lower half of IN2 l. 13 and the interlinear space between ll. 13 4, seem to belong to [Α]ὐ δν [αίο]υ and indicate that IN1 followed the emended text of SO : no securely identifiable letter traces below IN2 l : letter traces at the beginning of this line, under the interlinear space between IN2 ll and the upper half of l. 16, can be completed to match SO 17: [ἐν τοῖ] ς ἱε [ροῖς]. 16: letter traces are visible at the beginning of the line in the interlinear space between IN2 ll and under the lower half of 16; sigma and alpha below omega and nu of Ἀπόλ λωνος seem secure. 17: letter traces are visible at the beginning of the line from the middle of IN2 l. 17 to the interlinear interval between ll. 17 8; epsilon below the second tau of τοῦτο in IN2 is clear. 18: traces below IN2 l. 18 and the interlinear space between ll : no securely identifiable letter traces below IN2 l : letter traces below the interlinear space between IN2 ll and the upper part of l : letter traces below the interlinear space between IN2 ll and the upper part of l : in the corresponding passage of SO (ll. 22 3) either ἐκ or ἐπί has been suggested as an alternative for the πρό restored before [τῶ]ν ἐμῶν χρόνων by edd. pr. 38 The alignment of the left edge of the Zeugma stele, which can be measured from [εἰ]ς τοῦ τ ο in IN1 l. 24, allows room for barely two letter spaces and seems to exclude both ἐπί and πρό. 22: letter traces underlying the interlinear space between IN2 ll and the upper part of l : letter traces below the interlinear space between IN2 ll

6 inscriptions on stone : letter traces below the interlinear space between IN2 ll : letter traces below the lower edge of IN2, l. 24 and across the interlinear space between IN2 ll : letter traces underlying the middle of IN2 l. 25 and the interlinear space between ll : letter traces below IN2 l : letter traces below IN2 l : letter traces below the interlinear space between IN2 ll : letter traces on the left return of the stele below the interlinear space between IN2 ll and the middle of l. 29; letter traces on the right edge of the stone fall below IN2, l : letter traces below IN2 l : letter traces below IN2 l : letter traces underlying the upper part of IN2 l : for the supplement ἐν at the end of l. 33, omitted at the corresponding point in current texts of AD (ll. 5 6), see the revised text of AD in Crowther-Facella 2003, 74 7, text 4. 34: letter traces below the interlinear space between IN2 ll : letter traces in the interlinear space between IN2 ll and below the upper part of l : letter traces immediately below IN2 l : Cb (Crowther-Facella 2003, Epigraphical Appendix, text 5) has ἀπαντάσθω as a variatio for γίνεσθαι in AD and [SO]. IN1 follows the pattern of the Adıyaman stele. Translation I consecrated to [ ] this place and having set up both the images of the gods carved on the stelai and the images of myself that I established together with them I appointed priests both in this place and in the other sanctuaries of the kingdom and assigned lands for all the sanctuaries so that from the incomes that arise from the same land the priests might make the burnt offerings of incense and sacrifices every month on the sixteenth day, the day of my birth, and the inhabitants (of the land) might celebrate and feast. I ordained that all the inhabitants of my kingdom every year come together as one, each in the sanctuaries in proximity to them, both on the sixteenth of Audnaios, which is my annual birthday, and on the tenth of the month Loos, on which I assumed the diadem, and making burnt offerings in the sanctuaries, feast for these two days; in the same way I consecrated sacred slaves to attend to the sanctuaries and perform their duties in them. If my sons and their descendants who succeed to the kingdom observe my monthly birthday on the sixteenth day, and likewise give instructions for the same day to be observed also in all the other sanctuaries in my kingdom, in the same way as it was observed from my own times onwards, may the gods be well disposed towards them and deal with them graciously. Whoever of the kings or dynasts or generals or ethnarchs or any others comes into this sanctuary and wishes to make burnt offerings of incense and libations on the altars established in this sanctuary, and likewise to the image of me that has been established together with the images of the gods, and in the same way in the other sanctuaries in the kingdom in which my images have been established together with the images of the gods, and will join with them in increasing the honors of the gods and of myself and offer Figure 5. IN3 in situ, built into wall 9250 in Trench 9.

7 crowther. 198 the appropriate reverence, may the gods be well disposed towards them and may they experience for all time the good things that come from them (the gods). Whoever, on the other hand, coming into this sanctuary, and similarly into the other sanctuaries in the districts of my kingdom in which images of myself have been established together with the gods does not offer the appropriate reverence, but on the contrary damages or insults the sanctuaries or the images of me, may they experience the opposite of this and may there befall them what befalls those who act impiously towards the gods. The opening formulation of the parallel inscription from Sofraz Köy (SO) makes it clear that the group of texts to which IN1 belongs (SO, AD, Cb) was composed in the early years of the reign of Antiochus I of Commagene. 39 The king s titulature in SO (Appendix, text 1, ll. 1 6) omits the epithet μέγας advertised invariably in later texts, 40 and Antiochus emphasises the primacy of his assumption of the Armenian tiara. 41 A similar clause in the body of the text may underly the erasure in ll of SO, which was overwritten with a reference to the date of Antiochus assumption of the diadem. The formulation of IN1, 12 4, appears to follow the corrected version of the Sofraz Köy text. The early date of this text in the reign of Antiochus I coincides with the transfer by Pompey to the Commagenian kingdom of Zeugma and adjoining territories on the far bank of the Euphrates in 64 B.C. 42 The basalt stele from Trench 15 with its original inscription is likely to have been set up initially as part of a temenos assemblage shortly after the king acquired the city. The configuration of this temenos is attested only through the text of the inscription; there is no associated archaeological context since the stele was already in reuse when it was later deposited. The inscription mentions depictions (εἰκόνες) of Antiochus set up together with those of the gods (ll. 3 5, 26 7, 28 9, 34 5), as well as altars at which visitors to the sanctuary were expected to make burnt offerings and libations (24 5). The formulation of ll. 3 4 (restored from SO ll. 7 8) indicates that the depictions of the gods, and so probably of Antiochus himself, were relief sculptures inscribed on stelai (SO 7 8: τάς τε τῶν θεῶν [εἰ κό]νας τὰς ἐνγεγλυμμένας ἐν ταῖς στήλαις). The images of the gods, however, appear to have been distinct from those of Antiochus. Lines 26 7 refer to a single εἰκών of the king set up in the sanctuary together with the εἰκόνες of the gods. Since plural citations of εἰκόνες of Antiochus elsewhere in the text occur in the context of general references to sanctuaries throughout the kingdom, it seems to follow that each sanctuary originally contained a single relief portrait of the king alongside separate relief portraits of the gods. 43 The dexiosis scene subsequently cut on the opposite face of the stele offers a rather different conception and representation of the king s divinity and his place among the gods. A secure identity for the gods to whom the temenos at Zeugma was dedicated is lost with the opening lines of the inscription. Two alternatives offer themselves. It is possible that IN1 followed the text of the Sofraz Köy stele exactly and that the original dedicants of the sanctuary were Apollo Epekoos and Artemis Diktynna. 44 In IN2, however, Antiochus claims to have established a sanctuary for Zeus Oromasdes, Apollos Mithras Helios Hermes, and Artagnes Herakles Ares as soon as he succeeded to his father s kingdom (IN2 ll. 14 7). The claim is partly generic, since it is repeated from Sx ll and Zeugma, in any case, seems not to have been a part of the Commagenian kingdom when Antiochus came to power. But the relief scene of a dexiosis between Apollo and Antiochus cut on the other side of the stele and an earlier discovery of fragments of a relief of Antiochus and Herakles on Belkis Tepe (BEa, BEb) show that this description of the temenos was eventually an accurate one. The opening lines of IN1, for this reason, are perhaps more likely to have contained a dedication to the three gods of IN2 than to Apollo and Artemis of SO. 45 IN2 (Commagene BEc; SEG LIII, 1769) Letter height 0.02 m, line interval 0.01 m. The lettering is typical of Commagenian royal inscriptions: alpha has broken crossbar, theta a short central horizontal, pi vertical hastae of equal length; sigma is rectangular. The titulature and lineage of Antiochus in the lost opening lines of the inscription can be restored from the parallel passages in the Nemrud Dağı inscription (N 1 7, Appendix, text 2) and the partially preserved headings of Sx (ll. 1 6), and D (ll. 1 6). 46 The same titulature and lineage are multiply attested, with minor variants, in Antiochus other inscriptions, with the exception of the first series texts, represented by SO, AD, Cb, and IN1, and an honorific inscription from Ephesos now in the Ashmolean Museum (IK.Ephesos 203; OGIS 405), in which the epithet μέγας is omitted. 47 From ll. 23 onwards IN2 follows the Nemrud Dağı text verbatim (Appendix, text 2, lines 67 83); this correspondence is assumed in the restoration of the continuation of the clause interrupted in the last line of the text (ll. 34ff.)

9 crowther. 200 I came to believe piety to be, of all good things, not only the securest possession but also the sweetest enjoyment for men; it was this judgment that was for me the cause of my fortunate power and its most blessed employment; and throughout my whole life I was seen by all men as one who thought holiness the most faithful guardian and the incomparable delight of my reign. Because of this I escaped great perils against expectation, readily gained control of desperate situations, and in a most blessed way obtained the fulfilment of a life of many years. After succeeding to my ancestral kingdom I immediately established this new sanctuary of the ancient power of Zeus-Oromasdes and of Apollo Mithras Helios Hermes and of Artagnes Herakles Ares and I made the honor of the great gods grow in step with my own fortune, and I set up in sacred stone of a single compass alongside images of the deities the representation of my own form receiving the benevolent right hands of the gods, preserving a proper depiction of the undying concern with which they often extended their heavenly hands to my assistance in my struggles. I set aside sufficient land and undisturbed revenues from it for the lavish provision of sacrifices and for an uninterrupted cult, and I selected and appointed priests with garments befitting the Persian race, and I dedicated the whole array and ministry in a manner worthy of my fortune and the preeminence of the gods. I established an appropriate regulation concerning the sacred observances for them to be everlasting, so that all the inhabitants of my kingdom might offer together with the sacrifices required by ancient and common law also new festivals in reverence of the gods and in my honor. The birthday of my body, [the sixteenth of Audnaios, and the day of my assumption of the diadem, the tenth of Loios, I consecrated to the manifestations of the great deities who were my guides in a prosperous rule and were responsible for universal blessings for my whole kingdom]. The use of τύπος in line 4 is striking. As well as having the extended sense of a pattern or text, 49 τύπος is the regular Greek term for a sculptured relief. 50 If the wording of the inscription can be pressed, 51 Antiochus appears to distinguish between the physical representation on the stele of his ἴδια γνώμη, his personal conception of his relationship to the gods, apparently in the form of a relief scene showing him receiving the dexiosis of Apollo, and the written text, which records a ἱερὸς νόμος, sacred law, prescribing the forms in which piety is to be expressed by the population of the kingdom. Implicit in this distinction is the combination of the two expressions of Antiochus ruler cult on a single stele; the inscription and relief appear to be represented from the beginning as a unity. The reference to a sacred law looks forward to a section of text not preserved on the relief stele itself. There seems little doubt that IN3 and the fragment from Chantier 9 BEf belong to this continuation, just as Sz forms part of the law of common piety of Sx l. 7 at Samosata. Evidence for the dating of IN2 and two other parallel Commagenian texts (Sx, N) emerges allusively from lines Antiochus ambiguous and vulnerable position between Rome and Parthia is evident from a number of unsympathetic allusions in Cicero s correspondence. 52 The great perils and desperate situations noticed by the king in lines seem most likely to refer to the events of 38 B.C. when a Roman army under M. Antonius legate Ventidius Bassus and later Antonius himself laid siege to Samosata, the royal capital of Commagene. 53 Plutarch reports that the siege was contested and protracted. There is some ambiguity in our sources as to whether Samosata itself was surrendered, but in the end Antiochus and Antonius seem to have come to an agreement that allowed the king to maintain his authority. 54 If the κινδύνοι μεγάλοι and πράξεις δυσέλπιστοι to which Antiochus refers include this confrontation with Antonius, the text of the Zeugma inscription (as well as of Sx ll and N 20 3 which repeat the same claims) should be dated after 38 B.C. 55 The limits of Antiochus life and reign cannot be determined with precision. A terminus ante quem is offered by Plutarch s citation of Antiochus son Mithradates among the subject kings who supported Marcus Antonius at Actium in 31 B.C. (Ant. LXI.1), but Antiochus death has usually been placed somewhat earlier, ca. 36 B.C. 56 A dating between 38 B.C. and Antiochus death for IN2 would accord well with Antiochus words in lines 10 4 (14: καὶ βίου πολυετοῦς μακαρίστως ἐπληρώθην), which represent the text as a summation of the king s extended life. The wording of the text in l. 17, which places the establishment of the sanctuary at the beginning of Antiochus reign, seems incongruous, since Zeugma only came under his control in 64 B.C. The exact correspondence between IN2 and the Samosata text Sx (ll ) suggests that these lines were originally composed for a different situation, most probably that at Samosata itself, and were carried over unchanged to the Zeugma text. 57 In its primary context, the clause indicates that the associated cult of Zeus Oromasdes, Apollo Mithras Helios Hermes and Artagnes Herakles Ares (lines 15 6) goes back to Antiochus accession; this implication may also carry over to the original configuration of the temenos at Zeugma. 58 Lines 18 9 of IN2 (Sx ll. 24 6) offer an important commentary on the cult scene represented in the relief sculpture on the other face of the stele. 59 Antiochus implicitly distinguishes the representation of his own form receiving the benevolent right hands of the gods on the relief stelai which he added to the temenos, and of which the Zeugma stele is one example, from previous εἰκόνες both of himself and of the gods, such as those referred to in the SO, AD, and Cb texts, 60 by emphasising that a single stone encompassed both the king s form and that of the god.

10 inscriptions on stone. 201 CM Figure 6. IN3 after excavation and conservation. IN3 (Commagene BEd; SEG LIII, 1770; Inscription Register 1, WS 91, Trench 9, context 9204) Figs. 5 6 Fragment of a block of yellow-white limestone, preserving four lines and the upper edge of a fifth line from the top and left edge of a column of text. Traces of (red) paint remain in the lettering. The stone is broken away on the right and below; part of the original upper surface is preserved. The block shows pitting and abrasion across its inscribed face. When studied in 2002, IN3 was held in the archaeological store at the Zeugma Excavation House in Birecik. The second new inscription from Zeugma was found ca. 300 m to the east in Trench 9, inverted and incorporated with other reused masonry into a late Roman dividing wall (fig. 5, Plate 69a) inserted into a Roman-period building complex in what appears to have been a commercial area of the town. The inscription is cut on a limestone block, the top and part of the left side of which are preserved (WS 91). Much of the block s original width and height, however, has been lost; scarcely a third of the original line length of the inscription has survived, although the continuation of the text may have crossed over to adjoining blocks. The inscribed face of the stone has suffered damage from the application of a coarse claw chisel. There is no indication of when this damage occurred between the block s inscription and its reuse in the Roman period, although the secondary Tiberian context in which the relief stele SS1 was found indicates that the sanctuary assemblage to which IN3 belonged survived the king s lifetime by no more than half a century and is likely to have been intentionally dismantled. W m, h m, th m; letter height: 0.02 m; line interval: 0.01 m. The lettering is similar to that of IN2. Critical notes The restored text to the right of the surviving letters is drawn from the parallel document from Selik-Samosata, Sz The restoration considered in the initial publication for the end of l. 4, ταῖς [δὲ θ]εραπείαις τ[ῶν θυσιῶν], 61 now seems inconcongruous to a context in which the responsibilities of hierodouloi rather than of a priest are in question; τ[ῶν ἑορτῶν] fits the available letter spaces and offers more suitable sense. 62 τὸν αὐτὸν ἐξαιρού [μενος, τὰ λοιπὰ δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἱερῶν τοῖς παρατυγχά]- νουσι διαν έμων εἰς ἀν [υπεύθυνον εὐωχίαν, οἱ δὲ καθωσιωμένοι ὑπ ἐ]- μοῦ ἱερόδουλοι καὶ το[ύτων παῖδες ἔγγονοί τε πάντες ἀπαρενόχλητοι] μὲν τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάν[των ἀφείσθωσαν, ταῖς δὲ θεραπείαις τῶν ἑορτῶν(?)] 5 [κ]α ὶ τ[α]ῖ ς δ ι [ακονίαι]ς τ [ῶν συνόδων προσκαρτερείτωσαν.]

11 crowther. 202 The restoration of l. 5, and of the corresponding section of the parallel text Sz from Samosata, has been clarified by one of the new fragments from Ancoz, ANd, 63 which offers [ταῖς τ]ε διακονίαις in l. 3; the variatio of τε and καί is trivial. Translation [The priest (responsible for this) is to perform the sacrifices and burnt offerings, dressed entirely in Persian clothing and] choosing perquisites for himself [in accordance with] the same [law, and] distributing [the remainder of the offerings to those in] attendance for their unlimited [enjoyment, and] the sacred slaves [consecrated by me] and their [children and descendants are to be set free from the burden] of all other [responsibilities, and they are to apply themselves to looking after the festivals(?) and serving the gatherings.] The text of IN2 breaks in mid clause at the base of the stele; IN3, conversely, begins in the middle of a sentence at the head of a column. Its surviving text follows closely, and can be restored from, lines 8 14 of Sz, a stele found at Selik, ca. 9.5 km to the north of Samosata, and now in the British Museum. Just as the continuation of IN2 can be supplied from the parallel passage in the Nemrud Dağı texts (N 83ff.), so the immediately preceding context of IN3 can be supplied from the opening lines of Sz. A larger context is provided by parallels between Sz and the Nomos section of the cult inscription from Arsameia-on-the-Nymphaios (Sz 1 5 = A ; Sz = A ). 64 The first four lines of Sz correspond to A ll , which belong to the conclusion of a series of provisions concerning the monthly celebration of Antiochus birthday. 65 Sz, in contrast to the Nemrud Dağı and Arsameia Nomoi, which proceed to sections concerning the hierodouloi entrusted with the performance of the celebrations (N , A , G 78 89), continues with a set of provisions for the monthly celebration of Antiochus assumption of the diadem and perhaps also of his birthday (Sz 5 10). 66 It is to this context that the opening clause of IN3 belongs. The priest responsible for the celebration is to wear Persian dress and to receive perquisites according to the same nomos that regulates annual celebrations (γέρατα κατὰ νόμον τὸν αὐτὸν ἐξαιρούμενος). 67 The definition of the responsibilities of the hierodouloi consecrated to the performance of the king s monthly birthday and accession celebrations corresponds in general terms to the formula used in the Nomos texts from Nemrud Dağı and Arsameia-on-the-Nymphaios: the hierodouloi are freed from other obligations, but are bound through successive generations to the exclusive tendance of the synodoi, the festival gatherings. 68 In the Arsameia and Nemrud Dağı inscriptions, however, the hierodouloi are referred to more specifically as musicians, and in the Arsameia text, at least, are female. 69 IN2 3 Conclusions The temenos to which SS1 with IN2 belonged contained at least one and perhaps as many as three inscribed stelai with sculpted reliefs of dexiosis scenes. 70 The probable disposition of the relief stelai within the temenos is discussed by C. B. Rose elsewhere in this volume. The interrelationship of the inscribed texts to one another adds some details and clarifications but also complexities to the picture drawn there. The parallels between IN2 and IN3 and two inscriptions from the area of Samosata (Sx and Sz) are sufficient to suggest that the Zeugma texts belong to the same long document, whose structure and composition seem to have followed more or less closely those of the fully preserved texts from Nemrud Dağı (N) and Arsameia-on-the-Nymphaios (A), and less well preserved texts from Arsameia-on-the- Nymphaios (As) and Arsameia-on-the-Euphrates (G). The recent publication of seven inscribed fragments belonging to a series of basalt stelai from Ancoz (ANb-h) has offered fresh evidence for the nature of the extended cult text to which IN2 3 belonged; 71 the picture is further consolidated by the identification of a fragment found during the 1998 excavation season of the French Zeugma mission (BEf) as part of the conclusion of the Zeugma text. 72 It will be worth reviewing briefly the new outline that emerges. The form of the extended Commagenian cult texts is largely regular: an introductory section, related more or less specifically to the immediate and local context, followed by a section describing Antiochus career, aspirations, and commitment to piety (IN2, ll. 6 14; Sx 9 19, N 11 24) exemplified in the establishment of the particular sanctuary (IN2 ll , Sx 19 28, N 24 67), the performance of annual and monthly cult festivals, contingencies for the maintenance of the temenos or hierothesion and cult (IN2 ll , N ; A 69 76), and the elaboration of a sacred law (ἱερὸς νόμος) regulating the observation of the cult and the admission of worshipers (N ; A 77 94; As 65 76); followed by the Nomos itself. The terms of the latter show a number of variations across different cult sites, but the overall arrangement of the text is consistent and has allowed G. Petzl to reconstruct a model composite text of more than 200 lines to illustrate the interrelationship of the new Ancoz fragments, drawing elements from Sx, IN2, Ana-g, N, As, Sz, IN3, A, G, and Sy. 73 The surviving elements of the temenos assemblage at Zeugma are the stele SS1 with inscription IN2, and two inscribed wall-blocks, IN3 and the fragment from the French excavations in Chantier 9, BEf. The texts that they preserve correspond, respectively, to lines 4 37 (IN2), (IN3), and (BEf) of Petzl s composite text. 74 Beginning, middle and end of the text are, accordingly, represented. The inscription seems to have been cut partly on stelai and partly on associated walls so that it could be read, in principle, continuously from one surface to the next. It seems

12 unlikely, however, that IN3 and BEf belong to contiguous passages of text written in columns on a single surface, since the height of the lettering of BEf is perceptibly larger than that of IN3. A possible solution is that they were separated from one another by another object perhaps one of the other relief stelai with an intervening segment of text on its reverse face. IN1 3 inscriptions on stone. 203 The new evidence provided by the inscriptions and relief sculpture from Zeugma has prompted a reevaluation of the development of the Commagenian ruler cult during the reign of Antiochus I and, specifically, of the significance and chronology of the dexiosis scenes represented on Commagenian relief sculptures. 75 Stelai with dexiosis representations have been found at a number of temenos sites: Sofraz Köy (SO), an unidentified site in the area of Adıyaman (AD), Samosata (Sx/Sz), and now Zeugma (SS1/ IN1 2) and perhaps also Ancoz (ANf). On these stelai the relationship between the dexiosis reliefs and inscribed texts is as follows: SO: the stele initially carried a text of ca. 38 lines, which was corrected, perhaps not long after it had been inscribed, by a new clause in smaller lettering cut over lines 16 7 of the original text. Letters from the beginning and end of lines both in the original text and in the overwritten corrections were removed by the subsequent cutting back of the stele for the addition of a relief sculpture, which therefore postdates not only the original text, but also the amendment to it. AD: only the lower part of the stele has been preserved; the original text seems to have been corrected, not in the same form as the SO text, but by the addition after the last line of an incomplete clause relating to Antiochus assumption of the diadem (ll. 10 2). The edges of both the supplementary clause and the original inscription were affected by the cutting of the relief, which therefore postdates both. Zeugma SS1 stele: the underlying inscription (IN1) on the Zeugma relief stele reproduces the corrected text of the SO stele. Line endings and beginnings from this text were removed by the cutting of the relief sculpture. The overwritten and now visible text (IN2), in contrast, follows and respects the contours of the relief field. Since the letters of the original text were deeply incised into the basalt of the stele, preparation of the surface for the new text would have run the risk of damaging a preexisting relief sculpture; but there is no indication of such damage to the edges of the surviving relief. It seems to follow that the relief sculpture SS1 and IN2 were conceived and carried out as a single action (as, indeed, the formulation of IN2, 4 6, already implies). This conclusion is strengthened by a comparison with the Sx and Sz stelai from Samosata. Sx and Sz: inscription and relief sculpture on both stelai are in harmony one with another. There is no trace of an underlying text. In both cases the sculpture and text seem to represent a single conception. Block of yellow-white local limestone, broken above and on both edges; traces of the original dressed lower surface of the block survive. The lower part of the block has been partially erased with a coarse claw chisel. When studied in 2002 the inscription was held in the archaeological store at the Zeugma Excavation House in Birecik. The context from which this block derives is a wall of reused blocks (5024), with no dating evidence other than the inscription itself. The fill from the foundation trench of the wall (context 5097) offers no diagnostic material, but there is evidence elsewhere in Trench 5 for a destruction at the time of the Sasanian incursion in A.D. 252/253. The building or construction identified by the inscription apcm Figure 7. IN4. Since the relief sculptures and inscriptions on the Sx and SS1/IN2 stelai are contemporary, a dating range for both is provided by the internal references in the latter that, as has been seen, point to the later part of Antiochus reign. At the same time, the separation of the SO and AD relief sculptures from their contingent inscribed texts breaks the link between the dexiosis representations and the early years of Antiochus reign. Although the possibility cannot be excluded that future discoveries may show that the dexiosis motif was adopted and advertised by Antiochus shortly after his accession, this can no longer be argued to have been the case on the basis of the available evidence, which suggests, instead, that the dexiosis was a vision elaborated by Antiochus at a later stage of his reign. 76 Public Inscriptions Early Imperial IN4 (Inscription Register 5, WS 197, Trench 5, associated context 5024) Fig. 7

13 crowther. 204 pears to have been dismantled to provide material for the construction phase evident elsewhere on the site in the first half of the third century A.D., which in turn fell victim to Shapur in the middle of the century. The lettering of the inscription, which would be at home in the second century A.D., 77 seems compatible with this picture. W m, h m, th m. Letter height varies between (small numerals) and (L and X); line interval 0.02 m. Traces of red paint remain in the letter grooves. A preliminary publication of this text appeared with other material recorded by the Swiss team from the Universities of Bern and Lausanne in 2002 in Hartmann-Speidel 2003, 112, no. 1 (resumed as AÉ 2003, 1785). EỊ Α X TRIB PO OS III LEG IIII vacat FECIT vacat Critical notes 1: the lower edge of E or L followed by the base of a vertical letter stroke; the possible trace of the foot of a letter stroke before E noticed in the ed. pr. appears to be incidental damage. 2: there is a trace of the bottom right angle of A before X at the beginning of the line. Between the tribunicia potestas year reported in this line and the third consulship in line 3, a further titulature element is required, either p(atr-) p(atriae) or an imperatorial acclamation or, perhaps better, both. 3: the upper and lower edges of the head and foot serifs of a tall numeral sign are visible on the right edge of the stone. 4: FECIT appears to have been both preceded and followed by a vacat. [Imp(erator-) ]E.[- - - pont(ific-) m]a x(imo) trib(unicia) po[testat(e) c]o(n)s(ul-) III legio IIII [Scythica] fecit translation [For (or under) 78 the Emperor - - -, pontifex] maximus, in the [- -] year of his tribunician power, [- - -], consul for the third time, legio IIII Scythica constructed (this). Little remains of the titulature of the emperor in whose reign the unspecified building or construction commemorated by this inscription was completed. 79 In their preliminary discussion Hartmann and Speidel prudently refrained from spurious identification or restoration. It seems worthwhile, nevertheless, to explore the limited possibilities offered by the surviving letters and their configuration for reconstruction of the titulature. Hartmann and Speidel in commenting on the vacat before fecit in line 4 observe that either the vacat or the text may have been centered. Since the text ends naturally with fecit, however, and it is clear that the preceding lines continued beyond the broken edge of the stone, it seems more likely that fecit was centered and stood alone in the last line of the inscription. If this was so, the central axis of the inscription should have fallen approximately through the c of fecit in line 4, the g of legio in line 3, immediately after the b of trib(unicia) in line 2 and two letter spaces after the second letter trace in line 1. In line 3, the title of legio iv may be completed either in the abbreviated form legio iiii [Scy(thica)], well-attested on tile stamps from Zeugma, 80 or, more plausibly, in full as legio iiii [Scythica], suggesting a minimum line length on the right of the central axis of 11 or 16 characters (including interpuncts) and a line length of either ca. 22 or ca. 32 letters. The elements of an imperial titulature preserved in lines 2 3 indicate that very little of the inscription has been lost: before pont(ific-) m]ax(imo) in l. 2, the name, titles, and probably the filiation of an emperor are required. The letter traces on the upper edge of the stone must belong to this titulature, but are insufficient to support further interpretation. 81 A date within available imperial third consulship designations between the late first and second centuries is the closest context that can be offered. 82 IN4 is the first official document relating to the activity of legio IIII Scythica at Zeugma. The legion s presence had previously been attested by roof tiles, by coins, and by a handful of legionary gravestones. 83 Legio IIII seems to have been moved from Moesia to Syria to support Corbulo s Parthian campaigns ca. A.D It remained in Syria until the end of the third century A.D. 84 The legion took part in Trajan s Parthian war from A.D. 113, but seems to have returned to Zeugma after Trajan s death when Hadrian withdrew the legions from the captured provinces. 85 IN5 (Inscription Register 20, WS 652, Trench 15, context 15298) Fig. 8 Fragment of a thin plaque of coloured marble with two lines of text, found in the fill of a robber trench cut across wall The lettering is inscribed between lightly traced guidelines. When studied in 2002, the inscription was held in the archaeological store at the Zeugma Excavation House in Birecik. W m, h m, th m; letter height: m, line interval: m. Omicron is rectangular. ΙΟ ΕΒΗ Critical notes 1: the gap between the lower half of a vertical stroke preserved at the beginning of the line and the following rectangular omicron suggests that it is more likely to be

14 inscriptions on stone. 205 cm Figure 8. IN5. the stem of a tau or narrow gamma than an iota; the upper part of omicron is lost. 2: only the upper and central bars of epsilon are preserved at the beginning of the line, but the reading is secure. Ε ΒΗ may belong to a form of εὐσεβής. The quality of the marble and the care of the lettering suggest that this fragment of a plaque may once have contained a text of significance, but too little remains to support an interpretation. The surviving letterforms would be compatible with an Early or Middle Imperial date. Middle Imperial IN6 (Inscription Register 9, WS 150, Trench 11, context 11066, associated context 11006) Fig. 9 Fragment of a limestone base, with slightly convex curvature on the inscribed face; broken on all sides. Much of the upper part of the inscribed surface has been hammered away. When studied in 2002 the inscription was held in the archaeological store at the Zeugma Excavation House in Birecik. H m, w m, th m; letter height (sigma, tau) to (mu) m, line interval m. Mu and perhaps omega are cursive, and epsilon lunate; sigma however has a standard four-bar form; nu and alpha are relatively narrow Ω Ν ἡ γ εμό ν α [- - -]ματος v - - -Υ ΣΙ Κ Ε- Critical notes 1: before the nu at the end of the line, a letter stroke curving slightly inwards at the bottom seems more likely to belong to omega than omicron, which in lines 2 and 3 is almost fully rounded. 2: the bases of three successive verticals at the beginning of the line are associated in the suggested resolution of ἡ γ εμό ν α with an eta closely followed by a gamma whose upper bar would have overhung the following lunate epsilon; the upper half of omicron and the left vertical of nu are partly lost. 3: an uninscribed area after sigma extending to the broken edge of the stone indicates that this may have been where the lines broke. The surviving letters suggest a genitive singular ending of a neuter noun: for example, [ψηφίσ]ματος, but there are numerous other possibilities. 4: at the begining of the line traces of two branching strokes may belong to an upsilon, followed by the upper bar and perhaps the beginning of the diagonal of a sigma. Too little of this text survives to indicate more than a public function and a record of some importance: perhaps an honorific notice on a base for an unidentified Roman governor (ἡγεμών). 86 The cursive forms of epsilon and mu have a recent parallel in an honorific inscription for Caracalla recovered during the September 2003 excavation season of the Forschungsstelle Asia Minor mission at Doliche (Dülluk Baba Tepe). 87 There is some uncertainty about the context from which this inscription came. The excavation database and Worked Stone Record Sheet WS 150 offer 11066, while Inscription Record Sheet 9 and the Inscription Register in the 2001 unpublished Oxford Archaeology Interim Report in- cm Figure 9. IN6.

15 crowther. 206 Alpha has deeply broken crossbar, finished with a pendent serif; the hastae of pi are of equal length; omicron is circular; rho has a small loop; the central bar of epsilon is slightly detached from the stem and of almost equal length to the upper and lower bars. The lettering would be compatible with a late Hellenistic or Early Imperial date, but it is difficult to confine the dating range more closely. H m, w m, th m; letter height: (epsilon, pi, l. 3) to m (rho, ll. 1, 2), line interval: m. Μ[ε]ικρὰ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἄλυπε χαῖρε Critical notes 1: the epsilon of Μεικρά has been effaced by a deep pit in the surface of the stone. translation Meikra the daughter of Alexandros, causing grief to no one, farewell. Figure 10. IN7. dicate (part of wall 11009) is a fill between wall and the trench s southern limit of excavation, and so from an area that is somewhat removed from the rest of the trench. Neither context has yielded diagnostic pottery for dating. The only coin (of A.D. 244) comes from IN6 appears to have been built into a wall at some point between A.D. 100 and 253. The lettering of the inscription would point to a date in the middle or later part of this range, perhaps after A.D There is no specific evidence from trench 11 to narrow this range of dates further, but on the basis of the general pattern of construction observable at Zeugma, wall is best assigned to the phase of construction in the first half of the third century A.D., so that IN6 seems already to have been removed from its context and reused in the decades leading up to the Sasanid destruction. Funerary Inscriptions Early Imperial IN7 (Inscription Register 3, WS 126, Trench 2, context 2181) Fig. 10 Limestone stele, with partially dressed face within a hammered frame on left and above. The inscription is cut within incised guidelines, but space for a fourth line is left blank. Now in Gaziantep Museum. The funerary formula ἄλυπε χαῖρε, whose distribution has recently been studied by J.-B. Yon, 89 represents a positive virtue: causing grief to no one. 90 This is by far the commonest formula represented in the funerary epigraphy of Zeugma. 91 The lettering of the inscription suggests that IN7 is one of the earlier examples of its use at Zeugma. 92 The common name Alexandros is attested at Zeugma in two other epitaphs, but with no evident relationship to the present case. 93 Mikra (here in the form Μεικρά), in contrast, is new to Zeugma and uncommon elsewhere. 94 IN8 (Inscription Register 8, WS 141, surface find) Fig. 11 Fragment of a limestone funerary stele, broken on all sides, found in a robber mound, 2 m above a track southeast of Belkis Tepe. The front face is dressed level with a coarse claw chisel; letters are cut within guidelines, but space for a third line of text is left blank. The surface of the stone has suffered extensive damage. Recorded by H. Elton on 2 September When restudied in 2002 the inscription was held in the archaeological store at the Zeugma Excavation House in Birecik. Letters are widely spaced and deeply cut: alpha has straight crossbar; the bars of epsilon are of equal length; omega is cursive. H m, w m, th m; letter height 0.03 m, line interval m. [ἄ]ωρ ει ἄλ [υ]- [π]ε χαῖρ ε Critical notes 1: the stem and beginning of the loop of a possible rho are preserved in a worn area following omega; deep, vertical

16 inscriptions on stone. 207 cm Figure 11. IN8. incisions in the surface of the stone after rho and epsilon seem to be extraneous gouges. 2: after alpha, there is a gap of one letter space before a single vertical stroke; it is possible that the lapicide allowed a larger interval before cutting the iota to avoid a damaged area on the surface of the stone. The next letter should be be rho rather than epsilon, since the incision leading from the foot of the vertical is part of the guideline traced across the stone rather than a letter stroke. translation [- -] untimely, causing grief to no one, farewell. The interpetation of this damaged funerary text is not quite secure. The first three preserved letters in line 1 seem to belong to ἄωρε and a record of an untimely death, but the formula restored in lines 1-2, ἄ λ [υ π]ε χαῖρ [ε], is only reconcilable with the surviving letter traces in line 2 on the assumption that the letters are spaced to avoid pits and imperfections in the dressed surface. 95 The combination of the two formulae ἄωρε and ἄλυπε χαῖρε in a single epitaph is not otherwise attested at Zeugma, 96 although it is found in a small number of epitaphs elsewhere in Syria. 97 In the majority of cases the two patterns stand by themselves, the former sometimes accompanied by an age notation, which is absent here. 98 Late Imperial IN9 (Inscription Register 19, WS 651, Trench 15, context 15070) Fig. 12 Funerary stele of yellow-white limestone, inscribed with a striking Christian epitaph set within a dressed frame. The inscribed surface has suffered some damage along its left edge. Now in Gaziantep Museum. Recorded by H. Elton on 27 September H m, w m, th m; letter height m, line interval m. The lettering is written within roughly traced guidelines, except for lines 6 7, which are not so separated, and shows considerable variation in forms and execution: letter extremities are frequently defined by drilled points; some letters are only lightly traced. Alpha has alternately straight (ll. 1, 2, 3), broken (2), and angled (2, 6) crossbars; sigma is both lunate (4, 5, 6, 7) and rectangular (2, 3); epsilon is cm Figure 12. IN9.

17 crowther. 208 rectangular (2, 3, 4) and lunate (3, 4, 7); theta and omega are rectangular; omicron is both oval (5, 6) and rectangular (3); rho has a loop of variable size; upsilon has a V shape without a stem. There are ligatures in lines 3 (ΓΥΝΕ, ΤΕ), 5 (ΧΕ), 6 (ΑϹ), and 7 (ΩΖ). A Χρ(ιστὸς) Ω Μάρις μετὰ γ υ ν εκὸς καὶ τ έ κνων, θαρσῖτε, 5 Χ ΕROΙ ΣΣ Ε Χρῖστος ὑμᾶ ς σώ ζ ει Critical notes 1: the inscription is headed by a chi-rho symbol in the form of a staurogram enclosed within an alpha-omega resting on a baseline with a right vertical limit : lines 2 and 3 are separated by three deeply incised lines. 3: the first four letters are ligatured together, as are the penultimate two letters. A partial vertical immediately after καί is extraneous; kappa at the end of the line overlaps the edge of the dressed text field. 4: nu at the beginning of the line is no more than a trace, partially obscured by damage to the edge of the stone. 5: the reading and resolution of the letters in this line are difficult. The line begins with what seems to be a ligature of chi and epsilon, although two lightly traced vertical lines rising from the lower right edge of chi and bisecting the incomplete circumference of epsilon complicate the interpretation: ΧΕ, but possibly also XEI or even ΧΗϹ. The vertical after rho and omicron appears to be capped by a short bar and could perhaps be read as gamma rather than iota. The following letter appears to be omicron, although the circumference is closed only by the left edge of the succeeding letter, so that sigma is an alternative reading. The penultimate letter appears to be a lunate sigma, but is joined below by a less clearly incised outline, suggesting epsilon or, less likely, theta. The final letter appears to be a lightly traced epsilon. The interpretation of these letters remains open. ΧΕ is a well-attested abbreviation of Χ(ριστ)έ, but the remaining letters in the line do not easily stand by themselves, and the vocative seems, in any case, excluded by the nominative Χριστός in the following line. χαῖρε is regularly inscribed at Zeugma in the phonetic form χ ρε; 100 if the unclear penultimate letter could be read as a theta left open on the right, χέροισ<θ>ε for the middle χαίροισθε might, with difficulty, be read; but the middle optative is only rarely attested in funerary formulae, 101 and the combination of χαῖρε with θάρσ(ε)ι is itself very rare. Alternatively, if the ligature at the beginning of the line is resolved as ΧΕΙ, χειροῖσ<θ>ε ( may you overcome ) could be read, but χειρόομαι elsewhere always commands a direct object. A further, almost final, resort might be to take the letters in line 5 with the following lines as an approximate and aberrant dual or plural dative of χείρ (for χε(ι)ροῖν or χε(ι)ρσίν): with his hands Christ saves you ; but this is scarcely credible. 6: the chi of Χρῖστος seems originally to have been a kappa, reshaped by extending the lower bar upward to form a diagonal descending from right to left; a lightly traced loop attached to the vertical stem appears to convert the resulting letter to a christogram. 7: the reading of the second and third letters, which appear to be ligatured together, is not quite clear: omega seems probable and requires either sigma or zeta; the latter seems indicated by the inward-curving line traced on the right edge of omega. Fragments translation Maris with your wife and children, be of good courage, Christ saves you. This funerary text comes from a colluvium layer in Trench 15 and postdates the main phases of occupations of this area of the city; the lettering would be compatible with a date late in the fifth century or beyond but is too inconsistent to allow a closer palaeographical judgment. The inscription records a consolatory funerary text addressed to Maris with his wife and children. The encouraging imperative θάρσ(ε)ι/θαρσῖτε ( have courage ) is frequently, but not invariably, associated with the qualification οὐδεὶς (γὰρ) ἀθάνατος, absent here, and is widely used in pagan, Jewish, and Christian epitaphs, 102 although this seems to be its first appearance at Zeugma. 103 The concluding salvation formula in lines 6 7 is eminently Christian in character, but this seems to be its first epigraphical attestation. 104 The name Maris, which seems to derive from semitic MAR/mr ( lord, master ), 105 is previously known from Zeugma in the form Μάρρις in an epitaph with a similar consolatory formula, 106 and is attested sparsely elsewhere in Syria. 107 IN10 (Inscription Register 7, WS 258, Trench 1, context 1010) Fig. 13 Fragment of a limestone block, broken away on the right, with incomplete inscription on one dressed end; part of the original upper surface appears to be preserved. Now in Gaziantep Museum. Initially recorded by H. Elton on 16 June H m, w. 0.2 m, th m; letter height m, line interval m. Omicron, sigma, and omega are rectangular. ΣΕΙΓΝ[-] Διοδω[ρο-]

18 inscriptions on stone. 209 IN11 (Inscription Register 6, WS 252, Trench 1, context 1010) Fig. 14 Limestone block, broken away on the left and below, inscribed with a worn and only partially legible inscription of two lines set within a roughly executed panel; the right edge, part of the upper surface on the right, and the original rough-picked back are preserved. Now in Gaziantep Museum. Initially recorded by H. Elton on 16 June H m, w m, th m; letter height m, line interval m. The crossbar of alpha slopes up from left to right; omicron, sigma, and upsilon are rectangular; the loop of rho is small and almost square. - - c Σ ΟΑΙ Β ΑΡΣΥΜΟΣ Figure 13. IN10. Both this inscription and IN11 were recovered from the same context of reuse in Trench 1, the westernmost trench opened by Oxford Archaeology during the rescue excavations. The reading is clear, but interpretation less so. The left edge of the block is preserved and there is a vacat above and below the two lines of text. The letters that survive should, accordingly, provide the beginning of a text, but the extent of the lacuna to the right is unclear. What remains could be a name and patronymic, but the resolution of the first element is difficult. Σειγν[-] may be a variant form of the name Σέγνας, which is sporadically attested in Syria; 108 a brief epitaph from Kephallenia for a woman named Signa offers a closer parallel. 109 A less likely possibility is that σειγν[-] is an iotacism for σίγν[ον] (Latin signum) or σίγν[ιφερ] (Latin signifer). 110 Critical notes 1: the first preserved letter seems more likely to be a sigma than epsilon, which would have to have an unusually high central bar. The rectangular second letter seems to be omicron; there is no trace of the crossbar of a theta to provide a middle or passive infinitive. 2: a diagonal letter trace at the beginning of the line, on the broken edge of the stone, might belong to a triangular letter, but the angle is more acute than that of the following alpha and suggests instead the lower branch of a kappa; an epigraphically more difficult alternative would be the lower loop of an angular beta. The fifth letter is a rectangle open at the top and should accordingly be upsilon rather than omicron, although comparanda for this form are not plentiful. 111 There is a vacat of around four spaces to the edge of the frame. Reading and dating of this inscription are difficult. The preservation of part of the original upper surface of the block on the right suggests that there were only two lines, but the extent of the text missing on the left edge is unclear. If the letter trace at the beginning of line 2 could belong to an angular form of beta, Βαρσυμος, a Semitic name signifying son of Shamash (the Sun) already attested at Zeugma in a recently discovered funerary inscription, 112 might be read. The alternative, ΚΑΡΣΥΜΟΣ, seems to lead nowhere. A plausible resolution of the traces at the end of the first line has not been found. IN12 (Inscription Register 21, WS 513, Trench 15, context 15001) Fig. 15 Fragment preserving a segment of a limestone disc, inscribed with two letters. Recorded by H. Elton on 27 September When studied in 2002 the inscription was held in the archaeological store at the Zeugma Excavation House in Birecik. H. 0.2 m, w m, th m; letter height 0.08 m.

19 crowther. 210 cm Figure 14. IN11. Figure 16. IN13, shown in situ (right). IN13 (Inscription Register 2, WS 1017, Trench 7B, context 7195) CM Figure 15. IN12. ΕΓ Critical notes The remains of the second letter are compatible with gamma, pi, or a rectangular sigma. The interpretation of this text is unclear. The orientation of the letters follows the circumference of the rough disc to which this fragment appears to belong, but the length of the full text can no longer be determined. Fragment of a limestone block reused in a later wall with a fragmentary inscription in monumental lettering. Now backfilled. L m, w m; letter height 0.11 m. Sigma has a regular four-bar form. Recorded by H. Elton. Not seen. Ω ΣΙ Critical notes Only the right half of the first letter, consisting of a vertical stroke curving inwards towards the baseline, is preserved and seems more likely to belong to omega than omicron; the third letter consists of a vertical stroke broken at halfletter height; a base serif extends to the left and there appears to be the beginning of an intersecting stroke, so that rho or eta seem the most plausible identifications.

Arkansas Tech University MATH 4033: Elementary Modern Algebra Dr. Marcel B. Finan Composition. Invertible Mappings In this section we discuss two procedures for creating new mappings from old ones, namely,

She selects the option. Jenny starts with the al listing. This has employees listed within She drills down through the employee. The inferred ER sttricture relates this to the redcords in the databasee

ΟΜΗΡΟΥ ΙΛΙΑΔΑ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ ΠΑΛΛΗΣ SCHOOLTIME E-BOOKS www.scooltime.gr [- 2 -] The Project Gutenberg EBook of Iliad, by Homer This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions

Math 6 SL Probability Distributions Practice Test Mark Scheme. (a) Note: Award A for vertical line to right of mean, A for shading to right of their vertical line. AA N (b) evidence of recognizing symmetry

Potential Dividers 46 minutes 46 marks Page 1 of 11 Q1. In the circuit shown in the figure below, the battery, of negligible internal resistance, has an emf of 30 V. The pd across the lamp is 6.0 V and

105 Verses in the Critical Greek Text of the New Testament Without Any Manuscript Support These notes were sent to me by Dr. Maurice Robinson and detail 105 places in the Critical Greek Text of the New

Lesson 2: The Omega Verb - Present Tense Day one I. Word Study and Grammar 1. Most Greek verbs end in in the first person singular. 2. The present tense is formed by adding endings to the present stem.

HISTOGRAMS AND PERCENTILES What is the 25 th percentile of a histogram? The point on the horizontal axis such that of the area under the histogram lies to the left of that point (and to the right) What

Name: Date: Nuclear Physics 5. A sample of radioactive carbon-4 decays into a stable isotope of nitrogen. As the carbon-4 decays, the rate at which the amount of nitrogen is produced A. decreases linearly

84 CHAPTER 4. STATIONARY TS MODELS 4.6 Autoregressive Moving Average Model ARMA(,) This section is an introduction to a wide class of models ARMA(p,q) which we will consider in more detail later in this

www.xtremepapers.com UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS International General Certificate of Secondary Education *6301456813* GREEK 0543/03 Paper 3 Speaking Role Play Card One 1 March 30

Chapter 2 * * * * * * * Introduction to Verbs * * * * * * * In the first chapter, we practiced the skill of reading Greek words. Now we want to try to understand some parts of what we read. There are a

180 Section 9. Polar Equations and Graphs In this section, we will be graphing polar equations on a polar grid. In the first few examples, we will write the polar equation in rectangular form to help identify

An alcoholometer is a device that measures the concentration of ethanol in a water-ethanol mixture (often in units of %abv percent alcohol by volume). The depth to which an alcoholometer sinks in a water-ethanol